


Inktober 2017

by chasingriver



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Original Work, Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | Spirited Away, Shaun the Sheep (Cartoon), World of Warcraft
Genre: Fanart, Inktober, Inktober 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-01-22 20:50:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 1,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12490544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chasingriver/pseuds/chasingriver
Summary: Chasingriver's foray into ink for Inktober 2017. (Spoiler: It turns out I like pens. Who knew?)





	1. Inktober

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously, these are done already... I'll be posting them in batches as I have a chance to write the notes on them over the next few days. The thumbnails in the first chapter show you what you'll be in for. ;)

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Inktober (I was), here are the rules: 

If you're stuck for ideas, he also provides a list of prompts (some of which I used, others I didn't):

  


Here's a quick overview of the images I produced over the month, in thumbnail form. I put one image per chapter at full size, and give you a bit of commentary.

  
Thanks for checking it out!


	2. Magpie

Day 1, Prompt: swift

I used some ink and a brush on the first day, and it went off pretty well. The sheen on the ink when it dried was an unexpected but pleasing side effect. It doesn't show up as much in the scan.


	3. Pizza

Day 2, prompt: divided

Okay, not gonna lie, this was an underwhelming one. I think I used a Pitt Artist Pen on this. (It's a fibre-tipped 'brush pen' - but not really a brush.) 


	4. London and the Thames at Low Tide

Day 3, and I ignored the prompt.

I used a reference photo I'd taken in London the previous year, and dug out a Micron pen I had. Ooh, now we're getting somewhere. This was a tool I could get behind. Fiddly and precise.

I'd had a migraine that day, and had taken headache meds with caffeine in them, which led to some *really* intense focus until about 2am ... which turns out to be great for stippling and line work. Some of the buildings were a bit wonky, but I got over my fear (mostly) of screwing up, and worked the mistakes into the picture with some other lines. Or I just left them. (And realized that hey, they don't always look as bad as I think they do.)

I went out the next day and bought a set of Micron pens.


	5. Day 4: Grumpy Fish

Day 4, prompt: underwater

Fun with Micron pens and my first attempts at stippling.


	6. Day 5: Fry

Day 5, no prompt

Faber Castell Pit Artist Pen (marker)

I meticulously worked out an underdrawing of this picture of my cat, Fry, who used to sit like this. Then I screwed it up on the second or third mark I made. An attempt at a quick sketch, on some scrap paper (on top of some test marks from markers - how stupid can you get?) worked out better. Further efforts at drawing her that night proved futile, so I scanned the sketch and left it at that. Moral of the story: always use clean paper.


	7. Day 6: Sword

Day 6, prompt: sword

Micron pen with watercolor wash

I drew my weapon from World of Warcraft, a fire mage sword with the "The Star's Design" hidden artifact weapon appearance.


	8. Day 7: No Face and Susuwatari from Spirited Away

Day 7, prompt: shy

Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens

I really enjoyed doing these, especially the susuwatari (soot sprites)! I was still (sometimes) using iffy sketching paper for these (instead of smoother pen paper), and you can tell it didn't work very well with the markers. You can sort of see it 'cracking' a bit. Live and learn.


	9. Day 8: Cherub Inn, Dartmouth, UK

Day 8, prompt: crooked

Micron pens

The building is the oldest in Dartmouth and dates from 1380.


	10. Day 9: Barred Owl

Day 9, prompt: screech

Micron pens


	11. Day 10: Suzzallo Library, University of Washington

Day 10, prompt: gigantic

Micron pen

This university library is a gothic cathedral-like structure. I sat in there and sketched while everyone else studied on their laptops. I think I was having a lot more fun. I was initially a little upset that I'd forgotten to bring a ruler, but in retrospect, it was probably a good thing I hadn't.


	12. Day 11: Running Shoe

Day 11, prompt: run

Micron pen and Micron brush pen


	13. Shattered

Day 12, prompt: shattered

Brush pen


	14. Susuwatari

Day 13, prompt: teeming

Micron pen and brush pen

I love the susuwatari (soot sprites) from the movie Sprited Away. They were a lot of fun to draw, partly because their expressions were all in their eyes!


	15. Shaun the Sheep

Day 14, prompt: fierce

Micron pen

I have a Shaun the Sheep egg timer in my kitchen. He seemed to be the very antithesis of fierce, so here he is.


	16. Mysterious Sussex

Day 15, prompt: mysterious

Micron pens

Pretty much what it says on the tin? (A UFO over some fields in Sussex.)


	17. Tree

Day 16, no prompt

Micron pens

From a tutorial by Alphonso Dunn, on YouTube.


	18. Another Tree

Day 17, no prompt

Micron brush pen

I tried the same sort of thing as yesterday, but with a brush pen (actually, a felt tip 'brush pen'). Not a big fan of the result. Live and learn. (Also, next time, I'd shadow with the shape of the tree, not just up and down.)


	19. Liberty Bell Peak, North Cascades, Washington

Day 18, no prompt

Micron pens

This was good hatching practice, but next time, I think I'll start with a mountain that isn't naturally stained all black to begin with. The most satisfying parts of this were drawing the tiny trees to give a sense of scale, and the snow at the bottom. (Which is ironic, because they took the least amount of time.)


	20. Clouds

Day 10, prompt: cloud

Micron pen

What it says on the tin. Not thrilled with it, but what can you do? (In my case, get some sleep, instead of stressing over it for half the night.)


	21. Japanese Maple Leaf

Day 20: no prompt

Micron pen

A Japanese maple leaf, with stippling.


	22. Kitty Beanbag

Day 21, no prompt

Micron pen

Stippling practice. A beanbag kitty wrist rest I have in my office.


	23. Oxford Gargoyle

Day 22, no prompt

Micron brush pen

It was an interesting exercise, trying to simplify a stone sculpture into two colors. I ... mostly succeeded? It took me more than one try though.


	24. Radcliffe Camera, Oxford, England

Day 23, no prompt

Micron pen

This is a lovely old building in Oxford. You can read more about it [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radcliffe_Camera).


	25. Blind as a ...

Day 24, prompt: blind

Micron pen, then ink and paintbrush

This was a hot mess. I don’t know if it's lousy ink, or if the paper was too slick? I realized later that for the bird picture on day one, I'd used both different paper and some older ink I had. This stuff wasn't very dark at all and just slid all over the place. But it kind of worked. Certainly a switch from last night’s style.


	26. Black Sails

Day 25, prompt: ship

Pentel brush pen and Micron pen

Does this qualify for the Black Sails fandom? ;) (Just kidding.) 


	27. Hugs?

Day 26, prompt: squeak

Micron brush pen, Micron pen, white Gelly Roll pen, Derwent Inktense Cherry Red

So, I bought this little metal mouse sculpture 20+ years ago from an artist at Camden market in London. Unfortunately, I don’t remember his name and it doesn’t have any markings. (If you know who he is, let me know!)


	28. Totoro

Day 27, no prompt

Micron pens

Totoro, of course. :)


	29. Ootori-Sama (Duck Spirit) from Spirited Away

Day 28, no prompt

Micron pen

More stippling practice from my stuffed animal collection... this time, the duck spirit/ootori-sama from Spirited Away. You can see the context in the film [here](http://spiritedaway.wikia.com/wiki/Ootori-Sama/Image_Gallery).


	30. Sleepy Cat

Day 29, no prompt

Micron pen

Happy International Cat Day! The face is based on my cat, Agador.


	31. Keys

Day 30, prompt: found

Micron pen

Some keys on a keychain. Not very exciting.


	32. Raccoon

Day 31, prompt: mask

Micron pens, Pentel brush pen, Gelly Roll white pen

Reference image from National Geographic.

Well, This was the last one of the month, and I have to say, I was pretty happy with it. I framed him and put him up at home. 

I managed to reserve the whites of the eyes without needing to put them in later, which was exciting. I did use the white pen to do some of the fur around his black lips. I just couldn't get it right with ink alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really glad I did Inktober. I found a new medium and started to fall in love with drawing again. Thanks for taking a look! You can find me on tumblr at [chasingriversong](http://chasingriversong.tumblr.com)!


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